


Normal Mechs

by Artemis_Dreamer



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Decepticons - Freeform, Drabble, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Social Dynamics, The Nemesis, world-building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Dreamer/pseuds/Artemis_Dreamer
Summary: The vehicons had once been viewed as disposable, as little more than drones. Now each and every one was a valued soldier.---In which the author explores the true nature of Megatron's army.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Third-person world-building, no dialogue.

When the first vehicons had been created to serve the Decepticon cause, they had been viewed as disposable, as little more than drones. 

Megatron knew otherwise. They had free will. They had been sparked in service of the Cause, but had chosen to remain loyal of their own volition. 

Megatron knew, but that changed little. He still used the vehicons as shock troops, still paid little heed to the numbers in which they were deactivated. Pit, he occasionally deactivated one himself, taking out his rage and frustration on whichever unfortunate Vehicon happened to be closest at hand.

As the war dragged on, the mentality of the warlord towards his vehicons gradually changed. He had always known that they were loyal soldiers, not slaves or drones. Now, he began to treat them accordingly.

The initial change in attitude was largely prompted by a shortage of materials. In times past, hundreds of vehicons could be created each orn, mass produced for combat. Now, resources depleted by millennia of war, the Decepticons had barely enough materials to create half a dozen. Not half a dozen per orn - half a dozen in total.

The vehicons had free will. Along with that free will, they possessed intelligence, the capacity to learn. They were sparked with combat programming, but it was clearly not enough. Megatron made his decision - the vehicons were to be trained.

Only twenty remained on the Nemesis when the training began. Combat training. Training in the use of blasters, blades, and even unarmed techniques. 

Megatron had been a gladiator, a career warrior. His combat skills remained unparalleled in the Decepticon army. It was only logical that he conduct the training personally - the vehicons must learn from the best.

Obedient as ever, the vehicons trained. Trained and improved. As stellar cycles passed, their skills became formidable - equal to those of a normal mech, far beyond what could be expected of an easily-replicated template soldier. 

Each could now equal the Autobots' two-wheeler in battle. Some could even match the scout. 

Megatron trained them with little patience, but remarkable persistence, repeating lessons time and time again until they were mastered, harshly punishing each failure but reinforcing each success.

Often, training would send the vehicons to the medbay - yes, they were now being given medical treatment. There was no longer an unlimited supply, they were no longer disposable. They needed repairs and maintenance like normal mechs.

Pit, they were normal mechs. Their processors were perhaps more binary, more simplistic than that of a mech sparked naturally, but that changed little. 

All had personalities, quirks, distinctive features and varied preferences. The differences between them were subtle, but present nonetheless. 

7H0MA5 had a scarred left arm. P3T3 limped when it was cold. J05H suffered from processor aches. L30N had a permanent glitch in his left optic. N13L had a hacking cough made worse by dry weather.

5T3V3 was outgoing yet possessed of awkward mannerisms. J0N35 was inquisitive and often did his own research. M1L35 worried deeply about the wellbeing of others.

J4M35 enjoyed the rain. 3RN13 often overslept. 51M0N was fond of organic flowers. 8088Y was terrified of Starscream. CL1N7 drank his energon through a straw. 

Commanding the vehicons had become similar to commanding an actual army. Some had particular strengths, others had particular weaknesses. 

Mining equipment was best operated by D4L3 and 5C077. For engine repairs, ask J3N53N. Long scouting missions were perfect for 70DD who could go for orns without recharge.

Similarly, R4M0ND was not permitted to handle explosives, 0L1V3R was barred from stealth missions, and Pit, never let CHR15 drive. 

A point came where the deactivation of a Vehicon meant as much as the deactivation of an ordinary mech. Megatron was the ruthless commander of a dangerous army... but he still had a spark, and a rational mind.

Twenty vehicons didn't even qualify as a skeleton crew for the Nemesis. The minimum recommendation for optimal function was sixty mechs, not counting command staff. Something was always leaking, or clogged, or shorting out, or stalling intermittently, and every deactivation meant one less crewmech to help keep the Nemesis in the air.

In honesty, one less Vehicon meant more than just one less crewmech. It meant one less energon cube in the daily rations, one less berthroom to heat, and one less voice bantering in the canteen. It meant one less mech loyal to the Decepticon cause.

Megatron had never been, and likely never would be, a kind mech. He demanded respect and obedience. He gave impersonal, unquestionable orders. It was rare for him to assist his troops - it was even rarer for him to praise them. But he had come to understand the worth of the vehicons. 

They were his loyal soldiers, laying down their functions for him each and every orn. They represented the bulk of his troops, and without them, the Cause would be lost. Their training was well worth the effort.

Nomech but Starscream was even remotely surprised to discover that the warlord privately knew each and every one of them by designation. 

An army is only as strong as its weakest member. Megatron ensured that his army was without weakness. No longer was this accomplished through deactivation to weed out the weak, but rather through training to make the weak powerful.

Long vorns of war had made him cruel, careless for the functions of those under his command. Even longer vorns of war had subsequently restored his compassion. 

The vehicons had once been viewed as disposable, as little more than drones. Now each and every one was a valued soldier. 

When the Decepticons finally fell, when the Cause was finally lost... suffice to say that not a single one among the vehicons deactivated with anything less than the utmost respect in their sparks for the mech who had trained them, who had led them, who had finally seen their value. Respect for Lord Megatron. 

The Decepticons fell. The Cause was lost, and so was their leader.

At the memorial service, M1L35 mourned, sparkbroken. Tears streamed from L30N's glitched optic. 3RN13 was late, oversleeping again, and 70DD was early, having not slept in orns.

The Cause was lost, and so was their leader. So too were their commanders, and so too were many of their comrades.

The vehicons had free will. They chose to remain loyal of their own volition. The vehicons had free will. They chose to join their leader in the Well of All Sparks.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written as part of my setting notes for a much larger piece, but that work has been indefinitely postponed due to RL issues. I figured that I could at least polish this portion and share it with the community - my perspective on what a Vehicon truly is, and the interactions between them and their commander.
> 
> Any and all feedback is appreciated.


End file.
